On November 5 the company ExxonMobil received a subpoena (a writ ordering a person to attend a court) from the office of the Attorney General of New York, Eric Schneiderman, regarding the company’s response on the subject of climate change.

The main focus of the investigation is to see whether or not ExxonMobil was intentionally clouding the public debate about climate change science and the risks that it could have for investors (Washington Post). Meanwhile, the CEO Rex Tillerson said nothing could be further from the truth.

In an interview with PBS News Hour, Schneiderman said that there is another focus of the investigation regarding whether or not ExxonMobile was lying about the cost of switching to a renewable energy. ExxonMobil stated that switching would raise the cost of energy to 44 percent of the median income of an American family (PBS News Hour).

While it is possible that Exxon could have hidden such information and paid organizations to derail studies on the science of climate change, successful prosecutions are far from assured by experts (New York Times). However, if the prosecutions are successful, Exxon would have committed fraud by lying to investors and the public about the dangers of emissions (PBS News Hour).

The Vice President of Public and Government Affairs of the ExxonMobil Corporation, Kenneth Cohen, in an interview with PBS News Hour, said the following about the allegations against ExxonMobil: “First, we take the risks of climate change seriously. And we also have been working to understand the science of climate change. And that activity started in the late ’70s and has continued up to the present time. Our scientists have produced over 150 papers, 50 of which have been part of peer-reviewed publications.”

In the same interview, Cohen also confirmed that ExxonMobil has been funding corporations that are openly climate change deniers, but they still supported climate change science. His explanation for this was, “We have been engaged in, both—we have been focused on understanding the science, participating with the broader scientific community in developing the science, while at the same time participating in understanding what would be and working with policy-makers on what would be appropriate policy responses to this evolving body of science.”

There is a lot of support for the investigation from people, including presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. However, there is also support for Exxon. In an opinion article on American Thinker, Robert J. Samuelson said that the investigation into ExxonMobil is a violation of the company’s First Amendment rights. In an opinion article published by the Washington Post, it is argued that what Exxon did, if convicted, is fraud, which is not protected by the First Amendment.

EDITOR’S NOTE: On Nov. 18, at 1:47 p.m., we changed the word “hid” to “hidden.”